My first visit to this forum, and decided to add my 2cents worth......

I'm male, 73, and over the year, have used numerous plans, diets, and so forth. I'm a slow learner, but finally realized that's not the secret....at least for this old guy.

Nov. 08 my GP said "you're the fittest old fat guy I know, except for mild HBP and triglycerides off the chart". I agreed with the FAT part, I didn't like it. Being the Holidays is a tough time to begin a better eating habit, I justified (ha ha) waiting until Jan. 09 to begin.

Three factors only in the plan: Eat Less / Eat Better / Exercise.

No package plans, not memberships, no expensive equipment, no videos, nada. Good pair of jogging/walking shoes; a hybrid bike & rowing machine I already owned; two flea market 5lb hand weights. At the start, I couldn't jog 100 yards; my bike sprint speed was a blazing 10mph for a short distance; 15 min. on the rowing machine had me worn out.

The result? I'm now 52 pounds lighter, or roughly 4lbs per month healthy weight loss. I don't run races, but I do one or two 5k per week, mixed complete run, a run/walk cycle, or total walk swing 5lbs in each hand. My bike route is 18 miles, and unless a strong wind, average 15mph. Not much compared to serious bikers, but a good hour plus 80% max heart rate for me.

My GP? He now says I'm the fittest "old guy" he sees. Still have a few pounds to go to reach my goal. Am I proud? Yes.

The point of this is: IMHO, it all boils down to self motivation. Look in the mirror. If you don't like what you see, make up your mind to change the image.

I'm not an elderly man, I'm an 18 year old girl. But I suffered from an eating disorder for most of my adolescence. My turning point to getting better was when I looked in the mirror and thought to myself, "I hate who I am right now. I need to make a change." The first thing I did was try to be happier. I had no idea how to do that, so I contacted my doctor. She said diet and exercise. She didn't mean diet to lose weight...she meant diet to be healthy. My massive unhappiness with myself pushed me to strive for that change. I went from the girl who feared weight gain and calories, to the girl who feared depression and unhappiness.

But my journey started by looking in the mirror and deciding to make the change. It was not as easy as flipping a switch in my brain. I had a lot of emotional struggles getting to where I could actually put certain things in my body, but really, the struggle is the same with someone losing weight. You're trying to get your life back and trying to be happy with yourself. The struggles themselves are different, but when it comes down to it. It's determination.

How much do you want to be happy with yourself? Would you rather go back to your old ways and hate yourself forever? Or would you rather face your fears and obsticles head on and never have to feel that way again?